All 65 episodes of Jem and
the Holograms
are available on Nextflix Instant Que ($7.99 per month)

Everything you need to dress-up like Jem, Pizzazz or Synergy
-- officially licensed by Hasbro. spirithalloween.com

Get your officially (USA) licensed Jem t-shirts at welovefine.comthanks to the first welovefine/Jem contest, many
Jem fan made designs are available for purchase.Congratulations to the Winners! You are Superstars!

According to a Hasbro employee, Jem came
first. It sounded like Hasbro took a Jem and the Holograms
(or "M") box to Hong Kong/China for a trade
show. After the show the box was thrown out. It sounds
like a Mattel employee took the box out of a dumpster
and took it back to the US. According to the Hasbro
employee this is way the fabrics used for Barbie and
the Rockers where so bright, because Mattel was working
from the box and not a real Jem doll. At that point
Mattel worked their department over time to get Barbie
and the Rockers out first. Mattel did not have as much
work to do in pre-production as Hasbro. Mattel already
had the doll molds and some accessories, while Hasbro
had to make everything from scratch.

The Barbie and the Rocker stage
is a variation on the Donny and Marie Osmond T.V.
Show Playset from 1977. The TV, camera, stage light,
keyboard and guitar were reused in the Hot Rockin'
Stage.

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Diva (Red headed) - new original head
mold

Dee Dee (African-American) uses the
Spanish Barbie head mold (1983)

Dana (Asian-American) - uses the
Orental Barbie head mold (1980)

Derek - new original head mold

So it sounds like
Barbie and the Rockers, may have been released first.
But only because Hasbro was having to put a lot
more work into the Jem line to get it ready for production.

In the article"Jem - Beautiful or
Outrageous" by A. Glen Mandeville, Glen quoted
Hasbro Senior Vice President Al Corosi as saying that
Hasbro found out that Mattel was going to release a
female rock band, so Hasbro change the male group to
an all female group at that point.

So "Barbie and the Rockers"
would not be BATR without JATH, and "Jem and the
Holograms" would not JATH without BATR.

Barbie of Barbie and the
Rockers (1986)

Thanks
to Barbie's 50th Birthday, Mattel released a collection
of dolls to represent Barbie through out the years.
Mattel released Barbie from "Barbie and the Rockers"
for 1986, and included a new fashion for her.

Following that release, a "Barbie
and the Rockers" accessories pack became a part
of Barbie Basics.

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1986 Mattel
US
Toy Fair Catalog*

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1986
French Mattel Customer Catalogthanks to
Jademaliburoad

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1987
French Mattel Customer Catalogthanks to
Jademaliburoad

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* = some
of these toys may be unproduced.

1987 Mattel
US
Toy Fair Catalog*

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* = some of these toys may be unproduced.

Topolino
from Italy
Barbie and the Rockers,
and other Barbie dolls.

# 1604
Aug. 24, 1986

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# 1609
Sept. 28, 1986

# 1618
Nov. 30, 1986

# 1638
April 19, 1987

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# 1661
Dec 20, 1987

# 1671
Dec. 6, 1987

# 1673
Dec 20, 1987

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# 1402

# 1677

The ad in 1402
shows the Barbie piano.

The ad from 1677 shows a 6 change fashion
that seems very similar to Jem's Pink Hollywood Jem
dress.

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1982 Mattel
Checklist "Barbie Electronic Piano"
lower right

Other
US Barbie ads.

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1986 Free
Record

thanks to glittergoldguy

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1987 Free Record

thanks
to glittergoldguy

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More Rocker
playsets from store catalogs.

a
instrument set Image I cut out
of a store catalog years ago

a
living room set Image I cut out
of a store catalog years ago

Rockin
Cafe Image I cut out of a store
catalog years agoCheck out the Store Catalog page for more Barbie
and the Rockers Images